Abstract:
An experiment was conducted at two environments (Shambat
2005 and Sennar 2006) to investigate the agronomic and quality
performance at different growth stages and plant parts using 12 forage
sorghum genotypes representing the major local stocks of forage
sorghum in the Sudan. The treatments were arranged in RCBD with the
growth stage imposed on genotype as split in time and the plant part was
further splited on growth stage. Agronomic and quality traits studied
included: Green and dry matter yields, days to flowering, plant height,
crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber
.((ADF), ash and ether extract (EE
Significant differences were detected among genotypes in forage
yield and plant height. Interaction of genotype with environment was
significant for both characters pointing to the differential performance of
.genotypes across environment
The recommended cultivar (Kambal) ranked first in GMY;
however, it was not significantly different from that of the check Abu
Sab'in. The genotypes ANK43 from Ankolib and SG32-2A from Sudan
.Grass significantly outyielded their respective parental populations
Significant differences among genotypes were detected for NDF
but not for CP, ADF, EE, and ASH. Differences between growth stages
were significant for ADF, NDF and CP. Differences between plant parts
were significant for ADF, CP and ASH. The interaction of growth stage
.with plant part was significant for all traits other than ADF
The CP at boot stage was significantly higher than that obtained
at dough stage. The NDF and ADF percentages were significantly lower
at boot than dough stage. CP and Ash in the leaf were significantly
higher than those in the stem. ADF percentage in the leaf was
x
.significantly lower than that in the stem
The association study revealed that correlation of forage yield
with crude protein was significantly negative, with ADF was
significantly positive and with NDF was also positive but insignificant.
Correlation of crude protein with NDF was significantly negative and
.with ADF, EE Ash was also negative but insignificant
The forage yield, but not quality attributes of the selected lines
has been improved over their parental population; this has been
.attributed to the adverse association between forage yield and CP
The results obtained in this study suggest that harvesting at boot
.stage will maximize the benefits gained from forage sorghum
